Jewels From Junk – Country Coffee Table
One day, in an older more established area, I spied a lead glass window with eighteen panes of glass on top of a garbage pile. It was in perfect condition except that someone had painted the beautiful wood with white paint. Upon returning home I shoved it in the back of the garage and forgot about it. As luck would have it, months later I picked up a black coffee table, which was rectangular and quite modern looking but very sturdy.
About a year later, when we were desperate for furniture for our newly acquired country house, I started searching through my “pickings”. Hmmm, the table and window looked rather close to being the same size. Sure enough, the table measured 44 ins. by 18 ins. and the window 47 ins. by 19 ins. Perfect!! Now to get to work and to find out what’s underneath all the paint!!
After cleaning it off with a stripper solution, the window turned out to be a golden hardwood and in perfect condition with a beautiful brass knob and a rod that ran the full length of the window and served as the locking mechanism. The table, much to our surprise, when stripped, turned out to be blonde oak and also in perfect condition. Both were varathaned in a satin finish and the window was attached to the table with 3-inch brass hinges at either end of one side. This way the surface can be lifted up easily allowing for current magazines to be displayed. The window overhangs the table by 1½ inches at either end and 2 inches down the side that lifts up by using the polished oval shaped brass knob.
This is stunning in our family room – I wish I knew where all the other windows went!!
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